1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



539 



Fur the New England Farmer. 



TOMATO, SQUASH, CURRANT, GRAPE 

 VINE AND MANURE. 



If we ask of the mechanic who has a small lot 

 of land with his buildings, why he buys his vege- 

 tables, the answer usually is, I have no land or 

 time to spare. Such replies I rarely find true. 

 They do not intend to speak falsely, but the small 

 plats escape their notice. I raise my tomatoes 

 on a piece 7X10 feet. I set out 15 plants ; each 

 hill was trailed, and the result was that I had 

 enough for my family. On the side of my out- 

 house and top of the division fence, I lead the 

 squash vines, and on the shady side find a place 

 for the currant bushes. Some other bj'-place finds 

 the rhubarb roots. The grape vine roams over 

 the side of my dwelling. The plat under the 

 clothes-dryer need not Avant for cultivation even. 

 Here a fine bed of beets might grow luxuriantly, 

 nor need a few pole beans take much space. 



Most farmers find too much spare time after 

 finishing haying. One day among the crops in 

 eradicating the weeds, saves three days' labor in 

 the month of June hoeing. No time can be found 

 better for attending to the manure pile. If all the 

 long manure is collected, mixed with muck, and 

 shovelled over two or three times in the warm 

 months, it will be better prepared for the next 

 years' growth of vegetables, than it can be pre- 

 pared in the spring. The plant will not take hold 

 of its stimulants unless it is in the right state. 

 Therefore, it is better to have it ready to be acted 

 upon when the seed is put in contact with it. If 

 every one labelled all the seeds, many mistakes 

 might be avoided. Also, if he took pains to gather 

 the seeds from those species designated as females, 

 he would not find so many that do not germinate. 

 The lice which infest apple trees do not like to be 

 treated to a sprinkling of ashes in a wet day, I 

 guess, for they generally leave. s. P. M. 



Cai^e Elizabeth, Oct., 1862. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 BETHEL, MAINE. 



Mr. Editor : — I propose in a brief manner to 

 furnish you a few of the most important facts 

 which serve to make this village one of the most 

 delightful in New England. It is surrounded on 

 all sides by mountains pointing far toward the 

 skies, which, clothed as they are in magnificent 

 autumn foliage, with its changing hues, present 

 many scenes most pleasant to behold. The lim- 

 pid waters of the noble Androscoggin flow gently 

 through the valley, near the centre of the town, 

 on their way to the ocean. 



The intervals, cultivated highly and jielding a 

 abundant produce, show clearly the industry of 

 the husbandmen, and seem to bring them a mu- 

 nificent reward. Your instructive paper finds its 

 way to many of their homes, and perhaps this 

 may account for their success in part. 



Bethel has not been backward in furnishing 

 brave men to represent it in the impending 

 struggle, as more than one Imndred and fifty have 

 voluntarily gone forth, and strong, sturdy men as 

 ever breathed the mountain air, now are ready 

 if needed. A noble young officer, Harlan P. 

 Brown, a citizen of this place, fell at the battle 

 of Autietam, and his remains have been brought 



home and interred. Sadness seems to be cast 

 over the whole community in consequence. Ed- 

 ucated, refiiied, beloved by all who knew him, 

 under a sense of duty he went forth ; nobly he 

 did his duty, and fell bravely on the altar of his 

 country. 



The Grand Trunk Railroad runs through the 

 village, and has a station here, making public in- 

 tercourse easy and direct. A good hotel is kept 

 here, (what maeiy villages have not,) William F. 

 Loopy, proprietor. Situated in a retired and 

 most pleasant part of tlie village, is the Highland 

 Boarding School, N. T. True, A. M., ])rincipal 

 and proprietor. This institution is an honor to 

 the State. Here the intellectual and moral, as 

 well as the physical wants of the students are at- 

 tended to, and a pleasant home is found for all 

 who come under its charge. Amicus, 



Bethel, Me., Oct., 1862. 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE BIRDS OP NE"W ENGLAND — No. 23. 



FINCHES. 

 Shore Lark — Pine Grosbeak or Bullfinch — Purple Finch. 



The sub-order Conirostres, or the Cone- 

 hilled Birds, is characterized by the generally 

 more or less conic form of the bill, and is regard- 

 ed as the "typical tribe of the perching order." It 

 embraces many extensive families and sub-fami- 

 lies, as the Larks, Orosbeaks, Tanagers, Finches, 

 Orioles, Starlings, Crows, &c. 



Of the Larks proper (Alaudidce,) we have but 

 one species ; of the others, so called, one is a 

 Starling, (the Meadow Lark,) and the other a 

 Warbler, (the Brown Lark.) 



The Shore Lark or Sky Lark (Eremophila 

 cormita, Boie ; Alauda comuta, Wilson,) "inhab- 

 its evei'j'where on the prairies and desert plains of 

 North America," and according to Prof. Baird, 

 embraces two varieties. The "northern and east- 

 ern" variety inhabits the fur countries in summer, 

 breeding in Labrador, and descends into the At- 

 lantic States in winter ; the "southern and west- 

 ern" variety inhabits the Western prairies and 

 high central plains, breeding as far south as Wis- 

 consin, and passing in winter as far southward as 

 Texas. The Shore Lark comes to us from the 

 north in Octoljer, spends a few weeks with us, 

 and passes to the southward to winter, being 

 abundant, it is said, in New Jersey at that season, 

 and is seen as far south as Georgia. A few are 

 sometimes observed in New England throughout 

 the winter. They are often seen at Springfield, in 

 this State, in October and in spring. About the 

 middle of March they depart for the north, and 

 early in May are seen at Hudson's Bay. While 

 here these hardy birds frequent open plains, old 

 fields and the dry shores and banks of bays and 

 streams, keeping con.stantly on the ground and in 

 small parties, roosting together closely by a sliel- 

 tering weed or tuft of grass, on the dry and grav- 

 elly groiwid, abiding the frost and storm with 

 hardy indiflference. 



Audubon says the Shore Lark breeds on the 

 high and desolate tracts of Labrador, near the sea, 

 where he found its nest. It is placed with great 

 care in the mosses and lichens that cover the dark 

 granite, embedded to its edge in the thick moss. 



